Mark Say's blog on tech, data, business and whatever else stirs him up

Sunday, 24 June 2012

A bearded bishop and a big society

I'm
never sure what to make of religious leaders getting involved in
politics. I can understand the case that if they want their faith to
be relevant to the real world, and the instinct to tell them to butt
out of stuff that's not their business.

Overall
I find Rowan Williams an agreeable character. He's had to fudge a few
things to keep the CofE together as the gap between its liberal
leanings in most of the world and its bigots in Africa gets wider,
but I'm sure it's loyalty to the institution that drives him; and I
suspect that if it comes to the crunch he would be ready to wave
goodbye to the ones who want to stay in the 19th century.

I
also go along with his view on the big society. It's another twist on
the Conservative preoccupation with shrinking the state, cutting the
tax bill for rich people, and leaving more vulnerable people
dependent on charity.

But
I'm wary of making myself a hypocrite by saying that it's alright for
the CofE, or any church, to give Cameron some stick in public but
that it ought to stay quiet about an issue like gay marriage where
it's lining up with a lot of conservatives.

So
I think the church should say its bit about big social issues, even
if it's straying into politics. Us liberal types can always argue
when we don't like what it says, and the fact is that in Britain the
various churches, even the establishment CofE, don't have the weight
to swing an issue one way or the other.

I
just fear what would happen if some of the evangelist churches here
might get well organised and start chucking their weight about in
the political arena. You've only got to look at the States to see how
intolerant and nasty it can get. As long as our wooly old CofE and
people like its bearded archbishop are the main religious force in
this country it's better for all of us.